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The previous tenant at the place I’m currently living deliberately damaged some fixings and fittings, including breaking the side panel off the electric shower.

Is there a way to cover up this side panel, to make it safe?

Fortunately, the open side faces away from where water flows, so water is unlikely to get in directly. I realise water slashes, steam and condensation would get in.

The shower has stopped working (manual says it’s likely a solenoid or circuit board failure).

I’d like to know if the broken case could be repaired and made safe somehow - even a temporary fix - or whether the shower should be replaced.

I am not going to attempt to fix the shower’s electrical system or install a new shower myself. I will get an electrician to do that.

I have agreed to pay for the repair, and for the live-in landlady to pay me back. So I’d prefer the former, as it’d be a lot cheaper and I don’t intend to be living here long-term.

Thanks.

EDIT: I’m in the UK. I’m aware of what tenancy law here is, and whose responsibility are repairs, so I only require advice about whether there’s a safe way to repair that side panel, or whether the unit should be replaced.

UPDATE: The shower is being replaced with a new shower by an electrician.

Broken panel Shower unit

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    please make sure that is GFCI protected. and i don't think that was ever properly installed.
    – RadioSpace
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:17
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    I don’t think it was properly installed either. But I just want to stop having to bathe in a bucket.
    – Richard Cosgrove
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:27
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    I would recommend contacting the manufacturer to see if they have replacement parts for the portions that are broken. While you're on the line with them, give them whatever error codes/details you can get about the parts that aren't working and ask them where to get those. Anything you attempt to do to repair it would be a bodge at best, and since you're mixing electricity with a wet body, and that mixture has a propensity for resulting in death, I'd think it best to ensure it's done correctly.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:47
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    All the ones I've seen on plumbworld co uk cost under 200 pounds so like virtually all lower priced appliances these days this is going to be cheaper to replace than repair.
    – Ted Mittelstaedt
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 19:42
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    That's British 240V/416V in there, almost as hot as the 277V/480V commercial power in the States (that requires serious protection). If it was merely cosmetic that would be one thing, but obviously the unit has taken internal damage as well. British ground-fault protection is only 30ma if it exists at all, wholly inadequate for human protection. Deathtrap... If you use it anyway and someone gets electrocuted, you'll have no one to blame but yourself...
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Nov 30, 2020 at 2:46

3 Answers 3

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It might be possible to get a replacement plastic part from somewhere like Shower Doc, but it's your landlady's responsibility to pay for the work and get it done by a qualified tradesperson, immediately.

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  • Thanks. Is that showerdoc dot com? I know who’s responsibility it is - the situation is not that simple.
    – Richard Cosgrove
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 20:45
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    Thanks. I checked showerdoc and it looks like they have a replacement for the missing part of the casing.
    – Richard Cosgrove
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 21:14
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What jurisdiction is this located in?

In most places in the US it is illegal for a non-licensed person to do electrical work in a rental. Technically even buying a part for this device and replacing it would be a violation and absolutely repairing the circuit board in it would be a repair and thus illegal if you tried doing it.

And if your idea is you are going to call an electrician to come in and repair this and start telling him or her how to do their job they are going to turn and leave. Many probably wouldn't touch this one in any case as it is due to the missing tiling.

Since your landlady is paying for it you have no vested interest in the amount of money it would cost. The people who would care about that are the ones who are intending to make some money on the side by getting a quote then doing the work themselves (illegal in the US) and then passing the quote to the landlord.

The landlord has huge liability here for a tenant to get involved in this kind of repair. What happens if you contract with an electrician to do this, then 6 months from now a future tenant gets electrocuted in the shower and they go back to this electrician and he claims that he never touched it?

In the US the landlord is legally required to provide a safe rental with everything working. Your landlord has already broken the law by allowing you to rent this place that a "prior tenant broke this" Because of that you can legally walk away from the lease (she has already broken it)

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  • The jurisdiction is the UK. I’m aware of my rights and tenancy law here.
    – Richard Cosgrove
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:23
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    I thought this looked European. So, then if you are aware that you could potentially (potential, get it, yuk yuk) be held liable if something goes sideways here why in the world are you getting involved at all? I can't think of anything that could go wrong by placing a 220v power feed -in- a shower.../s If it was me I would run in the opposite direction.
    – Ted Mittelstaedt
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:29
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    It is not typical to provide answers to questions in this forum that could result in injury to someone. We get a lot of those in structural type and electrical type questions and questioners are generally upset with the standard stock "have an electrician do the work" and "have a structural engineer look at it" responses. I figured I would jump the gun on those and explain WHY we so often provide those answers so you would not waste a week waiting for a response. I guess no good deed goes unpunished...
    – Ted Mittelstaedt
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 18:54
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    I’m going to assume your answer to my question is, “There isn’t a safe way to repair the shower. It should be replaced.”
    – Richard Cosgrove
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 19:03
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    Correct! And by someone else! There are many stories of people getting light shocks from using the kind that have the heating element in the actual shower head. Yours is the more safe kind but that hole in the wall - from the looks of it it's been there a while allowing moisture behind the wall and there's likely mold now. I think your landlady is a doof but if I was more Machiavellian I would say she's trying to find a patsy to do the repair then hit up with a huge mold repair bill a year from now for not doing the shower repair properly and allowing a leak into the wall.
    – Ted Mittelstaedt
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 19:38
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Repair

That most likely cannot be safely repaired. Usually parts of the case interlock to keep out water.

In theory, if the manufacturer would supply a replacement housing, a competent person could transplant the parts but I doubt anyone would ever do that. That's not an expensive unit to replace.

Some Mira showers did have an easily replaceable lower enclosure part, I'm not sure if that is one of those. You could phone Mira for advice but really its a no-brainer for the landlord to hire an electrician to replace this.

I would not consider the opening in the wall to be safe either. Water will get in, certainly steam and condensation may cause problems in that wall. Most importantly, a child or other person might get a wet hand through that gap and touch a damaged or wet electrical cable.

Part P

You don't plan to do the work yourself, but this isn't notifiable under part P.

Part P section 2.5 says its not notifiable if you are not

a) adding a new circuit, 
b) working in a Consumer Unit 
c) adding or altering an existing circuit in a special location.

Replacing a broken appliance with an identical new working unit isn't adding or altering the circuit.

Which says

If you’re replacing an existing electric shower unit like-for-like, you may be able to install it yourself. In this case, the power and water cabling is already in place, and installing a new one simply involves fitting a new shower unit and riser rail. However, if the new shower unit has a higher wattage than the old one an electrician should replace the unit as the cabling may need changing. If in doubt, always err on the side of calling in a professional.

Find Any Answer says

"The fitting and replacement of cookers and electric showers is not notifiable unless a new circuit is needed."

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